Monday, February 23, 2015

The 87th Academy Awards were last night, which is really exciting for everyone at Moth Bird because we suffer from not only filmophelia but also a rather plaguing interest in seeing pretty dresses. Taking a break from all the sad thing sin the world to see people walking a red carpet is escapism in one of its truest forms.
That being said, though, we of course have a recap of some of the looks at the Oscars, with photos from POPSUGAR.

Sunday, February 22, 2015

We got more snow! It's like Jack Frost is trying to make up for the lack of winter here, and it's exciting to open the window and see the ground covered in white. Walking outside this morning was a bit difficult, though--it was more like skating, to be honest, and I"m not the most elegant skater thanks to my pigeon toes. Warmest thoughts go out to anyone in the New England area who's still trying to dig themselves out!
So, if you're snowed in, what are you plans for the day? You could....

Clean. Okay, this sounds really not fun at all, but imagine how good you'll feel when it's done.

Dance around the house. This is a personal favorite.

Try out that new workout DVD you haven't gotten the chance to use yet.

Finish your novel.

Do a giveaway. (More space=less stress.)

Watch a movie.

Play a board game. For anyone who hasn't played it, Scattergories is really, really fun!

Get caught up on work. I did a lot of homework over the break so I don't have as much now (knock on wood).

Thursday, February 19, 2015

I'm actually part Chinese, and I've always been interested in zodiac signs and East/West astrology. This year marks the Year of the Sheep. What's in store, then? Here's what Suzanne White, author of The New Astrology, has to say (article courtesy of AstroStyle):

Last May (2014), I read a piece in the Washington Post about how people in China and other Asian societies were rushing to get pregnant early in 2014 so they would hatch a Horse baby in the Horse year. They did not want to breed a baby in the Sheep year i.e. after Feb 19, 2015.According to Chinese beliefs, Sheep (also called Goats) are meek creatures, raised for nothing more than slaughter. Many Chinese think that babies born in the Year of the Sheep will, therefore, grow up to be followers rather than leaders. We westerners might call this belief a superstition. But, it is true, that bazillions of Asians intentionally avoid having Sheep babies. They believe that Goat/Sheep children are destined for heartbreak and failed marriages. And worse… they think Sheep will be unlucky in business. One popular Chinese folk saying holds that only one out of ten people born in the Year of the Sheep finds happiness. (AstroTwins note: Even marketers are dodging the Sheep’s milquetoast reputation, according to this AdAge article.)The above folklore may indeed be at least half true. In my own experience, Sheep people are intentional non-conformist outsiders. They often prefer not to fit in to any societal role. Some Sheep simply do as they please, when and where it pleases them to do it.The luckiest Sheep are artistic or wildly intellectually creative. All the arts and innovations—from mandolin playing to haute couture to concocting new software—are abetted if the artist doesn’t care what society thinks of their work. Sheep do it their way. They paint or write or invent or dance or act or cook or grow things better than almost any other sign of the Chinese Zodiac.However, no matter what masterpieces they produce, Sheep have trouble exploiting and protecting them. They are frequently hopeless when it comes to selling and buying, negotiating prices or putting money aside for a rainy day. Sometime Sheep are even at a loss to provide a roof over their own and their family’s heads.The basic energy of Sheep subjects is Yin. Not Yang. Some say that Yin represents peace, harmony and tranquility. One would hope then that a feeling of utter world serenity might pervade in 2015.Not so fast! Let’s look at previous Sheep years in memory:

1931 The Great Depression

1943 WWII

1955 US intervenes in Iran

1967 Yom Kippur War Israel, Race riots in U.S.

1979 American hostages taken in Iran

1991 The Gulf War

2003 US invades Iraq

Those Sheep years were anything but peaceful, harmonious or tranquil. It is true that Sheep years are Yin and so might be thought softer and less warlike than other years. However, that is clearly not always the case. When Sheep are challenged or their actions thwarted, they can switch from peace-loving Yinsters to vile aggressors, self-pitying and pessimistic cranks. And so with the years of the Sheep. They may at first give us an impression of serenity. But wait. There will be many slips twixt the cup and the lips to come in 2015.This Wood Sheep year will be a time for all right-thinking peoples to pull together. If you ever wanted to start your own political party, participate in a group charity effort or teach Afghan children how to speak English, 2015 is your year. Any and all humanitarian endeavors will be supported and rewarded. Being one of “the good guys” will be encouraged. Bad guys won’t be popular and hypocrites will be flushed out of their secret lairs. The man or woman who is unfaithful to a spouse or lover will be rejected by their fellows. The employee caught with their hand in the till will be publicly ridiculed and severely punished. Crime and violence in film and TV will not be popular. In 2015, people will be more interested in the arts and culture than in watch- ing punishing sports events and viewing bloody cadavers. In short, from a day-to-day living standpoint, the Sheep year 2015 will be more clement and gentler to be alive in. Good riddance to the rigorous backbreaking Horse year 2014.Sheep, as you may already know, can hardly be thought of as workaholics. They put in their time at work. But oftentimes their hearts and minds are elsewhere. Sheep are only work- crazy when the job at hand is something they are passionate about. Usually Sheep have a side interest to their day job and as soon as they grab the time, they are deeply involved in music or painting or inventing or sculpting or dancing or singing or collecting some oddball thing nobody else would take time to bother about. Not ordinary collector’s items such as butterflies or coins or stamps. Rather Sheep will accumulate a slew of obscure types of grasshoppers, old- fashioned alarm clocks or vintage frocks and hats from the early 20th century.How does this unusual bent, affect us in the year 2015? Well, the year will not be about ambition, success or money. Instead it will be about people and their essential needs. Ef- forts to relieve poverty and stamp out rampant illness will be favored. Those of you who invent and innovate can expect to be given time and even funds for your projects. But if you are one of those money-hungry folks who thinks of nothing but earning more success and social standing, you will ride a bumpy road ahead in 2015. Sheep don’t care about ac- cumulating money. They care about musing in fertile fields, making and building things with their minds and hands; and they care about routine. Not a routine that they impose on others. Rather a safe, unchanging routine which they can be guided by and which allows them to do more of what they are passionate about.Big changes are not designed to please Sheep people. Aggression for its own sake in not in the Sheep makeup. Sheep prefer stasis. They are a peace-loving lot. Hence, even though at present, we can hear the rattle of sabers loud and clear,there is hope. Sheep are about compromise. So, if events go according to the Sheep’s plan, 2015, the year of the Green Wood Sheep will smooth its wooly balm over the various hostilities and keep them from inciting wars among the peoples of the earth.In 2015 you will see families reunited. Harmony will return between couples. Runaway children will come back to the safety of their homes. The year encourages concession. These are turbulent times. 2015 will point the way through the storms and rekindle our belief in ourselves as one people who need to drop our petty individual quarrels, mend our broken fences and act as one human race to save Mother Earth from our own follies and excesses.See more at: http://astrostyle.com/year-of-the-sheep/#sthash.bQzdI2aV.dpuf

So, what do you think? What are your predictions/feelings about the Year of the Sheep?
<3 Frances

Tuesday, February 17, 2015

It's happened! Snow! Legitimate snow! I know New England's been suffering through blizzard situations for the past few weeks, and my heart really does go out to those still digging themselves out from beneath several feet of ice, but I can't help but to be excited about having some snowfall here, too. (I was beginning to give up entirely on the idea of snowmen, sledding, and snow days.)
Seeing as Punxsutawney Phil was accurate in his forecast and it's still very much winter out there, here's some music to make the whole indoors thing a little bit easier:

Saturday, February 14, 2015

Having Friday the 13th right before Valentine's Day is an interesting occurrence, but maybe the two days don't have to seem oppositional. Maybe they could be friends.
For me, Valentine's Day is much more of a "Galentine's" Day/Friendship Day/Saturday than anything else. It's important to show our love for others every day of the year, but today gives us a good excuse to think about chocolate and watch sad movies. And I get to mention my book/movie character boyfriend, too.
All that said, here's a Valentine's Day playlist that is in no way exclusively about Valentine's Day.

Wednesday, February 11, 2015

Many of the looks on the Spring 2015 runways had a very light, breezy, hippie-meets-Victorian feel to them, and, on a cold February morning, seeing those sorts of styles is the closest thing I've gotten to warm weather in a long time. Seeing that it's almost Valentine's Day (or, in my case, an excuse to talk about my fictional movie character boyfriend), I thought it would be appropriate to share some of this romanti-boho inspiration.

Monday, February 9, 2015

Between work stress and socialization awkwardness, etc., I've found running and dancing to be really helpful ways to detox and clear my head. I try to do something active every day (running, Pilates...) with Iris (#gymbuddies), and music is something that really helps to wake me up and get me motivated when I'm a bit tired. Without further adieu, here are some of the songs on my "Alter Ego" playlist (the one I play when I'm not trying to get into a melancholic writer mood!):

Thursday, February 5, 2015

We're almost through the first work week of February! We can do it!
I know I post music a lot, but it's difficult to not share something when you hear it and it makes you get really excited. I've been listening to The Antlers "Stolen Dance" by Milky Chance and a lot recently, and last night I also went through some 1980s music (#tbt).

Tuesday, February 3, 2015

Over the weekend, I read an article about a little four year-old girl called "Sweetie Sweetie" (her real name remains a mystery) who lost both her parents and her sister to Ebola in Sierra Leone. In the article, it said that she was living in an interim care center (ICC) with other Ebola orphans, all of the waiting out a 21-day quarantine to see whether or not they, too, contracted the disease. Because Ebola spreads so easily, many of the children are stigmatized as dangerous and therefore are not taken in by relatives when their parents die. At ICCs (of which there are many for the estimated 10,000 orphans), Ebola survivors trained by organizations like UNICEF look after orphans and monitor them for Ebola symptoms.

Credits to Daniel Berehulak, The New York Times

Anyway, I was really touched by Sweetie Sweetie's story. She cared for her mother as she died, telling her stories and trying to feed her, and I was really happy this morning when I saw a Child Fund report saying that Sweetie Sweetie was not only free of Ebola but that she had also been adopted by a health care worker who had cared for her mother. Sadly, though, eight other orphans do have Ebola, and there are still thousands of others in quarantine.The reason I post about this today is that I am incredibly moved by the heartbreaking stories of the Ebola orphans. They've suffered through things many people cannot even possibly begin to fathom, and I think that even just reading about their unimaginable struggles really helps to put things into perspective. They've lost so much, yet they continue to have hope, and it's important to raise awareness about their situation. If anyone wants more info on these babies/how they can help them, you can go to https://www.childfund.org/Ebola_Emergency/ orwww.unicef.org/emergencies/ebola/. <3 Frances

Monday, February 2, 2015

We've made it to another February....and another Groundhog Day. Apparently Punxsutawney Phil saw his shadow this morning and predicted six more weeks of winter. I'm torn between feeling sorry for New England and feeling hopeful that we may actually get some snow where I live. We've had zero snowmen this year. Zero. *cry, cry*

Aside from weather, though, I also wanted to share some music that will hopefully be a bit of a cheer-up on another cold Monday morning. It's more upbeat than some of the other stuff I share and will therefore hopefully aid in easing the return-to-work feels so many of us are experiencing.